Can we please get rid of the "Discovered it" option?

[+Highpointer]

I hate the "Discovered it" option for travel bugs and geocoins and I would like to see this option abolished for log entries. A major reason is that many geocachers use the "Discovered it" option instead of the "Retrieve from . . . " option when they acquire a geocoin or travel bug even when they physically take possession of the item.

 

For example, a new geocacher, who has only been geocaching for six days, picked up Laval K-9 Geocoin from Stage Door, but used "Discovered it' for their log entry when they should have used "Retrieve from Stage Door."

 

How can we encourage geocachers to not use the "Discovered it" option anymore? The "Discovered" alternative is very confusing, especially to new geocachers. I advocate that "Discovering" travel bugs and geocoins be abolished to make the process simpler, and to encourage geocachers to pick up geocoins and travel bugs instead of allowing them to languish in caches.

 

Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)

 

P.S. I contacted that geocacher by e-mail, and he responded and corrected his log. His reply to me stated, "Thanks for the info on the coin. I logged it like you requested. I'm pretty new at this so I appreciate the info."

Edited June 2, 2008 by Highpointer

[+Kit Fox]

I'd support your idea for travel bugs, but not geocoins. A point to consider is that cachers would simply retrieve your coin or TB, then place the coin/tb back into the cache where it currently resides. Instead of one "discovered it" email, you would get a retrieved, then a placed email. Be careful what you ask for.

 

This is the main reason the discover option was created, to reduce the number of emails by 50%.

[+Lotho]

I agree with kit fox, discover needs to stay for geocoins for when people discover them at events and such.

[+Eartha]

Many people use the TBs as personal TBs and want to allow people to discover them, since they never get left in a cache. The key lies in training people when we show them geocaching and if someone logs wrong on our own TBs, we should send them a message with a link on how to properly log a TB. I think too many people will be upset if the discover option is removed.

Many times those who logged a discover will figure out their error when they find they can't drop off the item.

Teach your cachers well.

[+wyohunter]

I agree with Eartha. Some travel bugs cannot be grabbed as they are motorhomes, cars, etc... Way to big to be placed in a cache so no way for you to grab them and move them yourself.

 

Training is the key. You did the best thing by mailing them and letting them know the correct way to handle themselves. As long as they are politely shown the way, as you obviously did, they will not be offended.

[+powercatjeffy]

How about we just change the wording of Discovered It? Maybe lengthen it a little bit so that people are a little more clear on what it means.

 

Perhaps "Discovered, but did not take."

[Neos2]

How about we just change the wording of Discovered It? Maybe lengthen it a little bit so that people are a little more clear on what it means.

 

Perhaps "Discovered, but did not take."

Yeah maybe, or shorten it --to "SAW"

 

I saw the TB in the cache. I saw your geocoin at the event.

[+joranda]

Just because newbies don't do it right is no reason to get rid of anything. Maybe we should get rid of the "Found It". Some people don't use that right either when they log a find that they really didn't find.

[+WRASTRO]

Just because newbies don't do it right is no reason to get rid of anything. Maybe we should get rid of the "Found It". Some people don't use that right either when they log a find that they really didn't find.

Maybe the DNF log type should also be eliminated since so many people seem to be confused by it and clearly don't understand how to use it.

 

My vote is to keep the discover option. I think it is very useful and in my experience people really don't have much trouble understanding what it is for.

[+DaFunkyFrogs]

You can't eliminate or dumb-down everything that has potential for errors in usage. Everyone makes mistakes or uses something improperly. Usually after the first error/mistake the lesson is learned and it isn't repeated. We were all new to this game at some point and had to learn, and ya gotta admit there is a tremendous amount of information to learn. I have been caching for 6 months (give or take a few days) and just got to 500 finds and 63 hides, and have spent literally hundreds of hours reading everything I can find about it, but I still consider myself a newbie prone to newbie mistakes. When someone who knows more about it than I do lets me know of a mistake and how to correct it, I really appreciate that help. Oh and I've seen 'seasoned veterans' make similar mistakes so it isn't just a newbie mistake. It's just human error. (or brain fart, whichever the case may be)

[+swegeman]

I a newbie to Geocaching and have made the Discovered option as a mistake. the problem that I had was the was no exspanation of What discovered was.

I found a travel bug but it wasn't were it was supposed to be. So I originally put discovered then realized I should of grabbed it!

The word "discoverd" is not listed in the glossary page of Geocaching??

So if were not being told how to use it how are we going to use it properly?

[+the hermit crabs]

How can we encourage geocachers to not use the "Discovered it" option anymore?

It seems it would be easier to encourage one entity (Groundspeak) to clarify "discovery" rather than trying encourage uncounted thousands of cachers to not use the "Discovered it" option.

 

(It should be easier, but it's not, given that this same complaint has existed since "Discovery" was implemented, but nothing has changed.)

 

It has been two years since the "Discovered it" option was added. But still there is no explanation about it on the geocaching.com TB pages; it's not at all surprising that people (and not just newbies!) are choosing the wrong one. There are two main causes for the "Discovered" option being misused:

 

(1) "Discovered" is too ambiguous and confusing a term; there were plenty of other more clear and concise terms suggested when this option was first being proposed in the "Icon swap meets" thread.

(2) The Travel Bug FAQ page and the "How to use a travel bug" page, where a newbie might be expected to check, don't describe the difference between "retrieve", "grab", and "discover".

 

The only place for someone to learn what "Discovered" really means is in the forums, a place where only a small percentage of cachers ever visit.

Edited June 5, 2008 by the hermit crabs

[+Tschakko]

I think one thing that would help a lot would be a translation of the website into different languages. Over here the mistakes happen, just because some people do not understand english that well...

My favourite would be German

But I also suggest Frensh, Dutch, Spanish, Italian

[+StaticTank]

Chalk me up for keeping the "Discovered!" Log! You can't dummy proof every thing!

[+Renegade Knight]

Limiting the discover option to events and travelers that are not in caches seems like it would solve both the discover problems and the issues that Kit Fox brought up.

[+BlueDeuce]

Limiting the discover option to events and travelers that are not in caches seems like it would solve both the discover problems and the issues that Kit Fox brought up.

 

While Travel bugs did not bring about the need for the Discover option, I suspect it's already too ingrained to be removed at this point. At least with the current system options.

 

 

 

edit: to/too

Edited June 6, 2008 by BlueDeuce

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Many people use the TBs as personal TBs and want to allow people to discover them, since they never get left in a cache. The key lies in training people when we show them geocaching and if someone logs wrong on our own TBs, we should send them a message with a link on how to properly log a TB. I think too many people will be upset if the discover option is removed.

Many times those who logged a discover will figure out their error when they find they can't drop off the item.

Teach your cachers well.

I agree with this, with the growing number of Cachers that are creating "Discover only" kinds of TBs, it's a little late to eliminate the option. Also, the option was seen as important when it was created. I think those who do not like it will just need to learn a way to deal with it.